Leo Casalini
Contributing Writer
On Nov. 4, Scot Council hosted Churros and Chat in Allen Commons. The event was held in a town hall-style format. This allowed students to pose their questions and concerns about campus life and the College to a group of Scot Council representatives. Churros couldn’t be acquired for the event; however, Scot Council provided Chipotle catering for some attendees.
There were four main issues addressed during the roughly hour-long event: a lack of transparency regarding funding, artificial intelligence (AI), student housing during summer and winter breaks and parking. Gabriel Jones ’28 mentioned cost-cutting measures around campus and their effects, specifically regarding Lowry Dining Hall. “They cut all these corners and they give us low-quality food, and the place where they do put their money it’s not even efficiently [used].” Axel Anderson ’29 added to Jones’ concern, mentioning a lack of transparency. “There’s no email going out saying ‘we spend our money in Lowry that you paid for on these things’ — so even if it is being spent beneficially, it’s impossible to tell.”
Autymn Anderson ’26, co-chair of Scot Council’s conduct committee and racial and ethnic diversity representative, was a primary organizer for the event, as the event was an initiative from the conduct committee. She brought up the lack of communication and discussion over actions taken by the board of trustees in response. Paraphrasing a quote from a conversation with a board member, she said, “Last year, what a trustee, he said, with it being a business, you’re not gonna know every move that business makes.” Scot Council President Flynn Cowie ’26 added that what little visibility they had into the board of trustees’ actions through the annual Mission and Outcomes meeting had been lost due to its recent cancellation.
Ty Reynolds ’27, treasurer for Scot Council, brought up the College’s use of AI both in the creation of advertisements and by faculty in the classroom. Cowie, referring to past conversations with the board of trustees, noted the board’s belief that AI could help fulfill a “baseline level of need for students.” Despite this, according to Cowie, students voiced an overwhelming discontent during the council’s general assembly meetings regarding the use of AI. Cowie mentioned that this was “specifically because of a lot of environmental concerns, but additionally things regarding critical thought and independent minds working together, which kind of is, at least to some degree, detracted by AI.” Anderson brought up her recent push for the creation of a class that would teach students skills necessary in their lives as independent adults.
The third concern for the evening was the additional cost of housing for students who stay at the College during the winter and summer breaks. Anderson mentioned that the free housing over breaks — which had been provided by the College during the pandemic — played a big role in the College’s current budget deficit. Hannah Willis ’28 acknowledged this fact but argued the policy was contradictory to the school’s values, saying, “that’s human capital coming to the school and then making your school look good, but they’re not providing any resources.” TyLynn Gault ’27, chair of Scot Council’s liaison committee, offered the possibility of a priority-based program, allowing free housing for foreign students or those who were part of an organization or program requiring them to stay during breaks.
The final concern of the night was the problem of parking on campus, with a particular focus on the tennis courts located next to the residential quad. The tennis courts, which had been available as parking during the renovation of Douglass Hall, are now off-limits to students. Cowie explained that this was because the City of Wooster had been concerned about the zoning safety concerns of the courts for quite some time. “So it’s like if we can’t have tennis courts there, we can’t really have parking there,” Cowie explained, citing the need for the construction of the new tennis courts on E Wayne Avenue and Gasche Street.
